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ampliseq completeness audit (2026-08-21)

Upstream: nf-core/ampliseq @ 2.18.0 · Port: oxo-flow-ampliseq (live-verified).

Mode matrix (upstream — one workflow, huge param surface)

axis options
inputs samplesheet / ASV fasta (--input_fasta) / folder / multiregion sheet
platforms illumina PE/SE, --pacbio, --iontorrent
amplicon DBs 16S: silva/gtdb/sbdi-gtdb/rdp/greengenes2 · 18S: pr2 · COI: coidb/midori2-co1 · ITS: unite-fungi/unite-alleuk · nifH: zehr-nifh
ITS --illumina_pe_its, --cut_its full/its1/its2, --its_extractor itsx/itsxrust
denoiser DADA2 ONLY (no UNOISE/QIIME2 denoise at this tag)
taxonomy 6 classifiers: DADA2 (default) / SINTAX / Kraken2 / QIIME2 / VSEARCH LCA / phylogenetic placement (EPA-NG/GAPPA, single-tree + multi-tree phyloplace) / SIDLE (multiregion)
post-ASV vsearch clustering, decontam, SSU barrnap filter, length/codon filters, ITSx cut
QIIME2 downstream automatic: diversity core/alpha/beta, barplots, ANCOM/ANCOM-BC/ANCOM-BC2
features PICRUSt2, SBDI export, phyloseq/TSE R objects, Rmd report

17 test profiles covering the matrix.

Gap tiers vs the port

P0: the 5 non-default taxonomy classifiers (SINTAX, Kraken2, QIIME2, VSEARCH LCA, pplace/phylogenetic placement incl. the multi-tree phyloplace HMM chain); SIDLE multiregion (12-process chain); ITS branch (cut_its + itsx/itsxrust + readthrough cutadapt); pacbio/iontorrent input modes; input_fasta mode; decontam; SSU/length/codon filters; QIIME2 downstream suite (diversity + ANCOM trio + barplots); PICRUSt2; SBDI export; double-primer cutadapt.

P1: SILVA + UNITE DB licenses (non-commercial/academic; ARB SILVA terms; figshare SH files) — document, offer free alternatives (greengenes2, gtdb, pr2, midori2). Not blockers for non-commercial use but must be flagged.

P2: all skip flags, mergepairs/sample-inference strategies, quality_type, cutadapt params, vsearch cluster id, assign taxlevels, failure-tolerance toggles, tax_agglom ranges.

Resource gate: EPANG_PLACE/GAPPA_ASSIGN need ≥60GB RAM (matches the mag-gtdbtk hardware-contract precedent — document per-branch).

Verdict

Largest param surface of the nf-core batch: 6 classifiers + SIDLE + QIIME2 analytics beyond the ported DADA2 default. Big P0, mostly free-software; the license story is limited to SILVA/UNITE DB terms.

Re-verification (2026-08-23, heavy group 1/3)

Engine: latest main (post-v0.14.1) · Box: tx-ubuntu · Mode: real CLI run, not dry-run · -j 2 --keep-going.

16 succeeded, 14 skipped, 0 failed, exit 0 — real execution. Coverage chain: cutadapt → fastqc → DADA2 full chain (quality profiles → filtntrim → err → denoising → merge → rmchimera) → dada2_taxonomy (SBDI-GTDB reference assignment) → stats → multiqc. All 14 skips are checkpoint reuse from earlier partial runs plus condition gates. The dada2 env needed 8 rounds of network-side surgery (see failure catalog) — zero repo changes required.

Status update (2026-08-27, catalog audit)

The port advanced since the verdict above — PR oxo-flow-ampliseq#2 (2026-08-26) ported ITS (cut_its/its_extractor itsx+itsxrust, read-through cutadapt, filter_len_itsx, ITS taxonomy), the QIIME2 downstream suite (diversity tree/rarefaction/core metrics/alpha/beta/ betaord/adonis, absolute/relative abundance exports, ANCOM/ANCOM-BC/ANCOM-BC2, classifier prep+classify), multi-run merge and PICRUSt2 — 26→49 rules, excluded 6→4.

Remaining P0 gaps (unchanged): the 5 non-default taxonomy classifiers (SINTAX, Kraken2, QIIME2, VSEARCH LCA, phylogenetic placement incl. multi-tree phyloplace), SIDLE multiregion, pacbio/iontorrent/input_fasta input modes, decontam/SSU/length/codon filters, SBDI export, phyloseq/TSE R objects and the Rmd report.

2026-08-27 audit of the 4 documented Excluded items, verified against the 2.18.0 tree: params.nanopore and params.syncom are absent from the codebase (grep-verified — claims exact); versions.yml is a mechanism difference (envs/container tags pin versions); the report-generator entry was truthified — only sbdiexport (default false) is off by default, while skip_phyloseq/skip_tse/skip_report all default false, i.e. phyloseq/TSE/Rmd-report run by default upstream and are simply not ported. No live tests this wave.